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Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 353
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** Supporting Characters: * * * * ** Antagonists: * Other Characters: * ** * * * * * * * Races and Species: * * * Locations: * ** *** ** *** **** ***** Loft apartment of Archangel and Psylocke. * ** *** **** The house of Cyclops and Phoenix. Vehicles: * Deathbird's spacecraft. * | Notes = *The issue claims that Rogue promised to help Joseph regain his memories about Magneto. Technically this refers to a scene in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 345 (June, 1997), where she promises to tell him everything about Magneto. There is a subtle difference here. *The issue has Jubilee asking Iceman about his continued presence among the X-Men and he responds that he has returned to the team. This line apparently resolves a storyline introduced in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 340 (January, 1997), where Iceman quits the team to spend some time with William Drake, his injured father. He returned to active duty during the Operation: Zero Tolerance crossover, but it was unclear whether he intended to return to his family once the crisis was over. Apparently he has decided to stay with the X-Men indefinitely. *The X-Men Blackbird seen in this issue has not been depicted for several years. It was replaced with a new version of the Blackbird, designed by Forge. The new version first appeared in X-Men Vol 2 1 (October, 1991), and its debut coincided with a major reorganization of the X-Men team. *In Rogue's dream, she absorbs Wolverine's memories and learns that he secretly has a son. This is left unexplained. The reference may be to Erista, an illegitimate son of Wolverine introduced in Wolverine: The Jungle Adventure Vol 1 1 (February, 1990). Erista remains an obscure character. Some online commentaries have seen this dream scene as a foreshadowing of the existence of Daken, a more prominent son of Wolverine introduced in Wolverine: Origins Vol 1 5 (October, 2006). A few years later came the introduction of the Mongrels, an entire team consisting only of biological children of Wolverine. *The Marvel Chronology Project, which keeps track of of character appearances, has the following information about the characters of the issue: **Dr. Aubrey Agee appears here following a flashback in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 359 (September, 1998). His next chronological appearance is in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 355 (May, 1998). **Archangel appears here following Iron Man Vol 3 1 (February, 1998). His next chronological appearance is in X-Men Vol 2 73 (March, 1998). **Bishop appears here following Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 348 (October, 1997). His next chronological appearance is in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 354 (April, 1998). **Cannonball appears here following X-Force Vol 1 76 (April, 1998). His next chronological appearance is in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 354 (April, 1998). **Cyclops appears here following Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 352 (February, 1998). His next chronological appearance is in Cable / Machine Man Annual Vol 1 '98 (May, 1998). **Deathbird appears here following Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 348 (October, 1997). Her next chronological appearance is in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 354 (April, 1998). **Iceman appears here following X-Men Vol 2 71 (January, 1998). His next chronological appearance is in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 354 (April, 1998). **Joseph appears here following X-Men Vol 2 72 (February, 1998). His next chronological appearance is in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 354 (April, 1998). **Jubilee appears here following Generation X Vol 1 40 (July, 1998). Her next chronological appearance is in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 354 (April, 1998). **Maggott appears here following X-Men Vol 2 72 (February, 1998). His next chronological appearance is in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 354 (April, 1998). **Marrow appears here following X-Men Vol 2 72 (February, 1998). Her next chronological appearance is in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 354 (April, 1998). **Phoenix appears here following Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 352 (February, 1998). Her next chronological appearance is in Cable / Machine Man Annual Vol 1 '98 (May, 1998). **Psylocke appears here following Iron Man Vol 3 1 (February, 1998). Her next chronological appearance is in X-Men Vol 2 73 (March, 1998). **Rogue appears here following Spider-Man/Kingpin: To the Death Vol 1 1 (November, 1997). Between pages of this issues is inserted a flashback from Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 354 (April, 1998). Her next chronological appeance is the main story of Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 354. **Sauron appears here following the main story of Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 351 (January, 1998) and a flashback in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 354 (April, 1998). In between pages of this issue he appears in another flashback of Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 354. His next chronological appearance is the main story of Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 354. **Margaret Stone makes no further appearances, but her voice is heard in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 355 (May, 1998). **Storm appears here following Spider-Man/Kingpin: To the Death Vol 1 1 (November, 1997). Her next chronological appearance is in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 354 (April, 1998). **Wolverine appears here following Maverick Vol 2 4 (December, 1997). In between pages of this issue he appears in a flashback of Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 354 (April, 1998). His next chronological appearance is the main story of Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 354. *The issue largely deals with the consequences of Rogue's stay in Antarctica. She temporarily lost her powers and got to feel the intimate touch of Gambit, with the implication that she lost her virginity to him. She then regained her powers, and had to absorb the memories and powers of Gambit. After learning that her lover was a former Mister Sinister and had blood on his hands, she decided to kick him off the team and abandon him in Antarctica. She now craves the intimate touch of other humans, craves absorbing more powers and memories, and feels guilt about sentencing Gambit to die in Antarctica. The issue has the following additions to make to her characterization: **In Rogue's case, knowing physical intimacy once in her life is worse than never having it all. She now knows what she is missing and craves it all the more. With her powers rendering this a forbidden fruit. **While her conscious self craves affection and intimate touches, her subconscious and dreams apparently really enjoyed absorbing the memories and powers of another mutant (Gambit). She now fixates on absorbing the powers and memories of Wolverine and tries to get permission to do that to Joseph. Her cravings are vampire-like, as pointed by a narration which compares her powers to a vampire's kiss. At the same time she fears loosing control and her dream ends with Wolverine having to kill her to end her threat. **She no longer feels certain of her decision to abandon Gambit to a potential death of exposure. (A decision which was rather unpopular with readers as well). The issue introduces the idea that when she absorbed Gambit, along with his memories, she also absorbed his guilt and intense self-loathing. That in effect Gambit sentenced himself to death for his crimes. *The summer weather that the Xavier Mansion and its vicinity are experiencing is strongly pointed to be abnormal, during a winter period where it is snowing in New York State. The implication, though not directly stated in dialogue, is that Storm is controlling the weather to an impressive level. She wants a summer day, she gets a summer day. *Archangel's scene in this issue largely continues from a scene in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 352 (February, 1998). There he arrived in the Xavier Mansion and was met with general hostility and accusations that he has been neglecting the X-Men and their needs. He now feels torn between tending to his personal life and his relationship with Psylocke on one side, and his life with the X-Men and his obligations to his teammates on the other. Psylocke's suicidal stunt of jumping off a rooftop and waiting to see whether he comes to her rescue, does not exactly seem to help his decision. This follows a number of previous issues where he finds her new powers and personality quirks to be rather bewildering and off-putting. *Jubilee's presence among the X-Men in this issue is largely left unexplained. She mostly manages to have some fun and get into a minor prank war with Iceman. She gets him wet with a water pistol, he gets her wet by throwing her into a pond. They seem to represent the fun-loving elements of the team, while the rest of the X-Men are either caught in personal dramas or are acting a bit too serious. *While the Xavier Mansion actually has no students or school-aged people since Jubilee got transferred to the Massachusetts Academy, this issue deals with the idea that officially it is still Xavier's School and has to report to a Board of Education. The new information is largely that Charles Xavier has had to file new reports to the Board every two years. With his long absence from the Mansion, nobody has bothered to replace him in this duty. This is getting the "School" in trouble with the educational authorities and is now costing them their accreditation. *Joseph is clearly having a medical crisis of some sort and is screaming that "he" is near and that someone has to stay away from him. This plot point is never really explained. Due to his recent interaction with the original Magneto, Joseph seems to be feeling strange whenever he senses him. The implication might be that he is sensing Magneto again, though Magneto is nowhere to be found in this or the following issues. *There is a particularly odd moment in this issue. Wolverine witnesses Joseph having a medical crisis and Margaret Stone clearly states that this "boy" needs help. Wolvie never bothers to offer any help, never checks up on his condition, or notifies anyone else. He just leaves Joseph alone and goes in search of Rogue. He then seems to forget all about Joseph. This seems rather callous of Wolverine and is never really explained. *The vampire-like absorption powers of both Rogue and Sauron seem to be compared in this issue, along with the burning need they both feel to use them on Wolverine. Rogue is caught standing over a drained Wolvie and is immediately blamed for a recent crime of Sauron. The similarities of the effects their powers have on victims are noted when Storm can not tell the difference. *The opening scene with Rogue absorbing Wolverine's powers, manifesting a Healing Factor and her own set of claws, and getting into a rather brutal fight with Wolvie serves as the main action scene of the issue. It offers some interesting visuals. It is rather telling that Rogue is wearing a hooded green costume, reminiscent of her uniform while serving with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. In her dream she is returning to a villainous persona. *While Bishop and Deathbird get a minor scene in this issue, it does not really offer new information on them and Deathbird's monologue is rather cryptic. For the time being, she seems to be in love with Bishop and has plans for them as a couple, but is also holding him against his will and lying to him. It is unclear whether his crippling injuries are real or whether they are part of her ruse. | Trivia = *Following the departure of Joe Madureira with Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 350 (January, 1997), Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 spend a couple of issues with no regular artist. This is the second issue of the series drawn by Chris Bachalo, the previous one being Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 349 (November, 1997). While he did not draw every issue, Bachalo remained the regular artist of the title until Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 365 (February, 1999). *Marrow is mentioned frequently in this issue, but only appears briefly. There are mentions of her recent fight with Wolverine in X-Men Vol 2 72 (February, 1998). Technically her presence at the Xavier Mansion may be a continuity error and/or point to poor coordination between the writers of the two X-Men titles. Joe Kelly, the writer of X-Men Vol 2, had ended that fight with Marrow running away from the Mansion and returning to the Alley. She had decided to quit the team and was not convinced to return until X-Men Vol 2 74 (April, 1998). Steven T. Seagle, the writer of Uncanny X-Men Vol 1, was apparently unaware of this detail. *Sauron humorously uses the phrase "It's a plane! It's a bird! It's Sauron!". This is a reference to the famous comic-book related phrase "Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Superman!" It was prominently used in the introduction of the television series "The Adventures of Superman" (1952-1958) and has come to be associated with various incarnations of Superman over the decades. *While not particularly prominent, various scenes of the issue feature a motif of birds. Birds seen in dreams, seen in reality, birds mentioned, and bird-like names. Culminating with the bird-like manifestation of Jean Grey's powers at the finale. This bird motif kept running for much of Steven T. Seagle's run in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1. It was presumably connected with his plan to have Jean increasingly manifest the powers of the Phoenix Force. This plan was aborted, because the Marvel editors rejected it. While Jean remained very powerful for some time, her powers were soon reduced again. Curiously enough, Seagle-like hints to Jean manifesting the powers of the Phoenix were then re-introduced by Grant Morrison in his run of New X-Men Vol 1. *Deathbird's supposed love for Bishop comes off as possessive, obsessive, and rather creepy. She acts like she owns the man, and uses his supposedly crippling injuries to justify her ownership. A few online commentaries compare his captivity to that of Paul Sheldon by Annie Wilkes in the film "Misery" (1990). Sheldon is a noted writer who has just ended his prominent series of novels and got seriously injured in an accident. Wilkes is a nurse who rescues him from death, holds him captive in her home, and abuses him. She is an obsessive fan of his novels and has an agenda of having him continue her favorite series indefinitely. *Technically the reintroduction of Sauron and his upcoming fight with the X-Men, seem to be an attempt of writer Steven T. Seagle to make some use of the rogues gallery of the X-Men and have the team fight supervillains again. This makes for a change of pace for the series. Following the Onslaught crossover, the main opponents of the team were Bastion and Graydon Creed. The methods of these villains mainly consistent of political manipulations and use of private armies, rather than physical fights. By early 1998, Creed was dead and Bastion largely out of the picture. The recent issues of the series under Seagle have depicted the return of Magneto, an update of Pyro's medical condition, and a plot by agents of A.I.M., but no classical superhero and super-villain fights. The change of pace was perhaps needed following a rather distinct lack of action scenes. | Recommended = | Links = * plot summary at uncannyxmen.net }}